PHOENIX — Once a long time ago, at Disney World, my eldest daughter, then four years old, begged me to take her on Space Mountain, the giant roller coaster. She wasn’t really tall enough, and she had glasses, but she was allowed to go as long as I took her spectacles (and tucked them down the front of my shirt) and held her tight.

She laughed and screamed with delight all the way, riding blind, while I gritted my teeth, nearly lost my lunch, and prayed for it to end. She wanted to go again. I staggered out and said I’d had enough.

Which brings us to the Phoenix Coyotes series against the Nashville Predators, and if you think we’re talking about a ride best appreciated by the vision-impaired, and not for weak stomachs, you are wrong.

OK, maybe you’re a little bit right.

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On the face of it, the entire Western Conference playoffs have been like a tutorial on defensive play, and you know how much fun tutorials are. It’s not going to get any more wide-open with Vancouver, Chicago, Detroit and San Jose all cooling their heels and wondering what hit them.

You need to squint a bit to imagine one of the four survivors of the first round — the Coyotes, Predators, L.A. Kings or St. Louis Blues — as a rightful heir to any Stanley Cup champion of the past quarter-century with the possible exception of the New Jersey Devils. Or the ’99 Dallas Stars, coached by the man now in charge of the Blues, Ken Hitchcock.

One-third of the games in the opening round (16 of 48) went into overtime — a record — and the winning goaltenders from the four Western survivors have combined for a 1.68 goals-against average and .948 save percentage.

As well, 15 of the 21 first-round games in the West were won by the visitors (30 of 48 leaguewide).

So what does it all mean?

It means the thrill-ride part of the analogy doesn’t hold up too well, especially for the home fans or those with no particular rooting interest, and it may be less roller coaster than bumper-cars.

It means that in the early rounds of playoffs, it may actually be a disadvantage to play at home, and the odds are pretty good that any given game in Round 2, in the West, is apt to end 2-1 in overtime with the road team winning.

Then again, the last time the Predators played the Coyotes in Glendale — six weeks ago — they won 5-4 in a shootout. Nashville coach Barry Trotz wasn’t excited to see his team giving and taking that many chances.

That was regular season, of course. But if either one of these teams can afford to loosen its grip on the other’s throat long enough to attack a little, it’s the Predators.

As Coyotes GM Don Maloney said Thursday, “I’ve always looked at that franchise as the one that had done the most with the least. Now, you look at them and you wonder: ‘where are the flaws’?”

That’s why the Predators — having added Andrei Kostitsyn from Montreal and Alexander Radulov from the KHL late in the season, and towering D-man Hal Gill, who missed the first round with a lower body injury — were a popular dark-horse pick to come out of the West among those who questioned the Vancouver Canucks’ moxie.

The Predators can check — Trotz’s teams have always known their way around the defensive zone — and with Vezina finalist Pekka Rinne in goal, whatever eludes the team defence still has to try to solve the string bean Finn. But they also had the fourth-best offence in the West this year, behind only Vancouver, Chicago and Detroit, so that one-dimensional label that’s been hung on the Nashville cats is a misnomer now.

Or at least, it is compared to the Coyotes, who live and die with Dave Tippett’s stolid, counter-attacking style — in which it sometimes appears that they are killing their own power plays by not even attempting to make an adventurous pass at any point.

The only regular-season 30-goal scorer still playing in the West is Phoenix’s Radim Vrbata, who had 35, and there are old hands like Ray Whitney and Shane Doan who have solid offensive resumes, but from top to bottom, the ‘Yotes play it close to the vest. Put first-round sensation Mike Smith in the net behind this crew, and there’s not much joy to be had banging away at the Phoenix end of the ice.

So here’s a viewer’s guide on how to get through Round 2, Western Conference:

Learn to appreciate strong defensive systems and outstanding goaltenders, and be happy that the fans who really need encouragement from their teams are finally getting it. Don’t worry so much if you only know about half the names on each roster. It’s not your fault. Not one of the four teams has ever won a Stanley Cup, and anyway, you’ve watched so much Detroit, Chicago, Vancouver and San Jose the past few years, you probably didn’t realize anyone else played in the conference.

Also drink plenty of strong, black coffee. And if possible, take off your glasses and tuck them down the front of your shirt.